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Magnificent (She Says) Lyrics
[Verse 1]
This is where, this is where the bottle lands
Where all the biggest questions meet
With little feet stood in the sand
This is where the echoes swell to nothing on the tide
And where a tiny pair of hands
Finds a sea-worn piece of glass
And sets it as a sapphire in her mind
[Pre-Chorus]
And there she stands
Throwing both her arms around the world
The world that doesn't even know
How much it needs this little girl
[Chorus]
It's all gonna be magnificent, she says
It's all gonna be magnificent
[Verse 2]
This is where it all began
To light your mother's cigarette
Meant I got to touch her hand
And my heart, there defrosting in a gaze
Wasn't built to beat that way
Suddenly I understand
[Pre-Chorus]
There on the sand
Throwing both her arms around the world
The world that doesn't even know
How much it needs this little girl
[Chorus]
It's all gonna be magnificent, she says
It's all gonna be magnificent
It's all gonna be magnificent, she says
It's all gonna be magnificent
[Outro]
The echoes slow, the bottle lands
The echoes slow, and there she stands
This is where, this is where the bottle lands
Where all the biggest questions meet
With little feet stood in the sand
This is where the echoes swell to nothing on the tide
And where a tiny pair of hands
Finds a sea-worn piece of glass
And sets it as a sapphire in her mind
And there she stands
Throwing both her arms around the world
The world that doesn't even know
How much it needs this little girl
It's all gonna be magnificent, she says
It's all gonna be magnificent
This is where it all began
To light your mother's cigarette
Meant I got to touch her hand
And my heart, there defrosting in a gaze
Wasn't built to beat that way
Suddenly I understand
There on the sand
Throwing both her arms around the world
The world that doesn't even know
How much it needs this little girl
It's all gonna be magnificent, she says
It's all gonna be magnificent
It's all gonna be magnificent, she says
It's all gonna be magnificent
The echoes slow, the bottle lands
The echoes slow, and there she stands
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It's about the beauty and responsibility of raising a girl. Time to grow up and do everything one can do to protect her as a dad should. Also the potential of a world of healthy women feeling protected is the ultimate goal.
The song begins with a father watching his daughter play happily in the sand and worrying to himself about her future.
Where all the biggest questions meet/ with little feet stood in the sand – shows that the father is not fully in the moment. As his daughter is playing on the beach he is aware that ‘big questions’ are currently being discussed which will have an impact on her future. (As the song was written in 2016 it is obviously alluding to Brexit)
Where a tiny pair of hands/ finds a sea-worn piece of glass/ and sets it as a sapphire in her mind – This nicely illustrates the innocence of children and how they see the world as a magical, wonderful place. Thus, what the cynical old father sees as just a ‘sea-worn piece of glass’ the child imagines to be a beautiful sapphire. Likewise she imagines everything will turn out to be 'magnificent'.
This is where it all began/ to light your mother’s cigarette – the father is taken back in time to the moment he met the girl’s mother, his partner. Apparently it was on the same beach.
And my heart/ there defrosting in her gaze/ wasn’t built to beat that way/ and suddenly I understand – The father, prone to cynicism, lets his guard down and can’t help falling in love. The lyric ‘wasn’t built to beat that way’ perhaps suggests that some people are naturally prone to cynicism. But as he remembers the moment he first fell in love he understands the little girl’s point of view. The world does seem like a wonderful place, ‘magnificent’ you might say.
What a beautifully written song this is, but then I would expect nothing less from the great Guy Garvey. This song is the perfect antidote to the general pessimism that surrounds where we’re going at the moment. Like so many Elbow songs, it is ultimately and unashamedly about the power of love.